“Super-majority”: Does Eyman’s tax curb cost the state?

A judge’s decision on Wednesday, throwing out the required two-thirds vote by both houses in the Legislature to raise taxes or close loopholes, is likely to put the “Super-majority” issue before both the Washington State Supreme Court and Washington voters.

Eyman (seattlepi.com file photo)

King County Superior Court Judge Bruce Heller, deciding against Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1053, ruled that a “Super-majority vote requirement violates the simple majority provision” of the Washington State Constitution.

“This means the state Supreme Court, one way or another, will finally be forced to rule on the issue instead of punting as it has done in the past,” e-mailed Jason Mercier of the conservative Washington Policy Center.

Andrew Villeneuve, executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, lampooned angry rhetoric in Eyman’s reaction to the Heller ruling, but agreed that the issue is headed to the Supremes.

“They got a ruling they don’t like, so they are trashing it on political grounds,” said Villeneuve. “The decision went directly to the constitutional merits of the initiative. There is no procedural garbage.”

In a campaign greased by oil company contributions, Eyman has been deploying signature mercenaries to promote Initiative 1185, which would put the “Super-majority” before the voters for the fifth time.

He tried to use Heller’s ruling as a catapult for the new measure, saying it “throws gasoline on the fire for Son of 1053.”

Eyman was also circulating an overheated, partisan statement from State Sen. Janea Holmquist Newbry, R-Moses Lake, saying she will sponsor an amendment to enshrine Eymanism into the State Constitution.

“The Olympia ruling class that thinks it knows best has repeatedly tried to make it easier to raise taxes, with no regard for the will of the taxpayers who have repeatedly said they want to make it harder for legislators to pick their pockets,” Newbry said.

But critics were asking whether it is “picking pockets” to adequately support state services, and whether the Super-majority has imposed a straightjacket on a state struggling to break free of the Great Recession.

“The elected representatives of the people should have all the policy options available to them to change the downward spiral that we have been on in both K-12 and higher education investments in recent years,” said State Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle.

Frockt, a plaintiff in the challenge to I-1053, said the Super-majority requirement has had an “undeniable chilling effort” as lawmakers seek to develop options to deal with the state’s underfunding of education.

“The full range of options are not seriously considered, much less debated, when it is perceived to be a futile effort in light of a minority’s ability to overrule the majority on the House and Senate floor,” Frockt added.

And, asked Villeneuve, should the minority be allowed to rule in Olympia?

“I wonder how Sen. Newbry would react if we were to pass a law requiring a two-thirds majority in both houses of the Legislature to repeal or change regulations,” he said. “Is this a way to make public policy?”

Tim Eyman has made a handsome living as a full-time initiative promoters. On Wednesday, while decrying Judge Heller’s ruling, he was asking supporters to help “take care” of a loan he made to the Initiative 1053 campaign.

Still, hundreds of teachers have been laid off in the state, and seniors at Washington’s four-year public colleges have seen tuition double during their student years.

Washington State University regents recently enacted a 16 percent tuition hike for the second straight year. The University of Washington is set to increase tuition by 16 percent on top of a 20 percent hike last year.

The Seattle Times, the state’s largest newspaper, has spent months wringing its hands over dwindling public support for higher education. But it has editorialized in favor of the Super-majority.

Similarly, the campaign of Republican gubernatorial hopeful Rob McKenna released a statement Wednesday defending the constitutionality of Initiative 1053, and voters’ ability to “control government.” McKenna has made boosting support for education a major theme of his campaign.